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Tag: Skorne

Hobbies are a tricky thing. To many of them, and you never seem to get anything done. To few, and you’re stuck to the internet and social sites all day trying to catch up with what the latest stars and Idiots are doing. I blame that on a lack of hobbies, its true. where are the stamp and coin collectors, the birdwatchers, the hikers. Many a hobby has dried up. I seem to have jumped on the wrong end of that miserable see-saw. I can’t even balance Painting-Assembling-Converting-Playing

Back when I mentioned my list of posts I wanted to do to wrap up the Skorne Chronicles, I thought that I’d take a look at Zaal 2. However, I think I’ve gone into well enough about him earlier that I can put that off for a little while yet.

Instead, I’ll work through, chronologically, how I felt with each caster, what their high and low points are, and how much I enjoyed the caster from both the fun and competitive angle.

First up are a pair of casters I ended up not using very often at all. and by very often, I mean only this one day. The first casters I reached for when I started my journey were the two newest ones in the ranks, at that time. Xerxis 2 and Makeda 3

I’ve been keeping track of data on my games for about 5 years now. I really enjoy looking back on whom I played, the casters I played against and with, and all sorts of other little demographics. I like to look at my overall percentage and see that its not really changed, as it doesn’t once you get over 300 games or so. I figured it would be a good, absolute way of looking at the year past and analyzing it a bit. Take the journey with me!

All Good Things

There are events and goals that come to pass, sometimes, that feel as if they come to their end swiftly. Looking back, you can remember almost nothing, yet time has inexorably moved forward, and what you had once looked forward to is now something that you can only remember fondly.Sometimes. Other times, They pull themselves forward with only their fingernails, tracing harsh, deep scars in the earth where they begrudgingly gave ground to inevitable. Most often, though, time passes as it should, breaking when and where it is expected, remembered often but not vividly. This, thankfully, is how my year of Skorne has progressed, and it not with begrudgingly or to swiftly that the I change factions. Instead, it is with the appropriateness suggested by the diversion that 12 months have now passed and I once more raise the flag of the Dragonfather and bring Cryx to the tabletop once more. That does not mean, however, that I’m done with Skorne completely.

I knew it was coming. The time when I would return to Lord Toruks wicked embrace and lead his undead hordes and vicious pirates to war once more. It seemed so long ago, yet akin to yesterday. New Casters, models and play styles were all tried and I enjoyed my time with the Skorne, but my true calling has always been Cryx.

When I saw the new warcaster they were getting in Vengeance, I was psyched to jump back to Cryx. It was going to be a chance to use some of the new models that had come out since then, including Denny 3. However, that was not to be. I was unable to really get a move on those models until recently. That lead me to picking up a caster I’d never really given a fair shake, Hexy 2. After getting a few games in with him, I was starting to really enjoy the list, though I made some few tweaks get some use out of models I rarely brought to the table. I was able to go to a tournament this past weekend, as well as getting in a game with a friend on Tuesday, totaling out to 5 games in under a week. Today I’ll grab a 6th. Its more Warmachine that I’ve played in a given stretch since October, and it was very enjoyable.

That’s a harsh statement, but it is not without merit. I find that one of the hardest things to do is devote both time and energy to a task and then fail. I don’t mean minimal time investment, but an amount of time that you’d consider significant. What is key here is that the measure of time or energy is not absolute, but the measure of worth. What is even worse, though, is that we play games in which one person is guaranteed to come out feeling less cool than when they went in.

But there is always an upside. Losing, while it sucks, can be one of the great teachers.

This one is gonna be short. I’ve got fallout on the brain, but I still want to keep putting posts out there, keeping up with Warmachine, D&D and whatever else I’ve been up to. Recently, its just been the two and a little bit of painting, but Fallout has co-opted that, ruining my Iron Man streak of painting a Warcaster every month for the whole year. Sacrifices were made!

In Warmachine I’ve been examining my Skorne lists, pulling up Hexy 2 and In D&D I’ve been working on killing my players. Well, not actively killing, but making sure they know who’s boss.

Solutions

Last time, I talked about the Long Grind that I feel i have put myself through the last few months. While I enjoyed the games, I rarely felt like I was really playing Skorne. With Zaal 1 and Zaal 2 I felt very close to Cryx, and with Morghoul 2 I felt like I was playing Minions. Both of those lists really don’t have the same type of power that Skorne emanates. I needed something bolder, something that hits hard and lays its targets low.

Exhaustion

As I left the tournament Saturday, I was a little agitated. My last game has not gone well, though I’d won, and the entire day was spent tirelessly working towards what I felt was a pedestrian 2-2 showing. Both victories seemed hollow, and both defeats seemed felt self-inflicted. This isn’t to say that the person who won shouldn’t have – they did, but I could defenitly see where I made it much harder on myself than I should have. Above all I felt my main caster throughout the tournament, Zaal 2, was working uphill. I’d spent the last two months playing him, and though it was fun, I’m tired of using a caster that feels like he has one hand tied behind his back.

In just a few days, I’ll be going to only the third tournament I have made it to all year. I had much higher aspirations (6) at the start of the year, but life throws its vagaries at us as it chooses, not as we determine. neither tournament was a rousing success, though I managed to peel away with 2 wins in each outing. This weekend looks to be a big one as well, with 16 players signed up currently. We may once again hit the fabled 5th round! What am I taking this weekend? Well, lets take a look!